ACCORD – Supervisors of four Rondout Valley towns spoke at the breakfast meeting of the Rondout Valley Business Association last Thursday morning, September 11. Each provided a sketch of significant events in their towns over the past year.

While each town has its own challenges, a common theme was the NY Rising program, which is providing money for projects to repair storm damage and plan for resiliency against future weather events. The supervisors also all touched upon the economic value of the developing rail trail system in the region.

Rochester supervisor Carl Chipman started by announcing good news about one of the most visible business stories in his town, that of the Rainbow Diner and its pile of ruins along Route 209 in Kerhonkson. While keeping mum on the details, he said that the property had been sold the previous day to a buyer who was committed to having the site cleaned up within another 60 days.

"It's been a long, painful process," the supervisor said of the asbestos-checking stand-off. "But it will soon be over."

NY Rising money will soon be used to address flooding of the Rochester and Rondout creeks, Chipman continued, and together with other state and federal monies a higher bridge will be put in to reduce the all-too-frequent flood closures of Route 209 in Accord. The town is also focused on other infrastructure issues, and has formed committees to better the reach of broadband access, and to fill in the rail trail gap that still exists in the town.

The rail trail's fate in Rochester is of interest to the supervisor of Wawarsing, Leonard Distel, as his own town's trail is hoped to eventually connect to the wider county system through its northern neighbor. Distel reported that negotiations have been completed to allow the trail to pass through state correctional facility grounds, and that the owners of the Nevele have granted a five-mile easement through that property, conditional upon the resort winning a casino license.

Wawarsing is also making headway with its infrastructure, adding eleven miles of cable access for residents, sidewalks in the hamlet of Kerhonkson, and eight miles of repaving on Route 55 thanks to the efforts of State Senator Bonacic. On the horizon is a vote to dissolve the village of Ellenville because, as Distel put it, "The governor for some reason doesn't like municipalities."

The Wawarsing supervisor also complained about New York City's aqueduct under a portion of the town, noting that their plans to repair leaks in it weren't fast enough, and worrying that the millions of dollars spent to buy and repair local homes may not be enough.

In Rosendale, Supervisor Jeanne Walsh's good news was that there's nearly enough money to replace the pool which was closed down two years ago for safety reasons, and it should be operational next summer. In addition to local fund raising, grants were obtained from a number of sources, including an innovative one that secured funding by agreeing to provide shower and locker facilities for users of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, which passes through the nearby hamlet. That will, in part, resolve the question of how to get the walkers on the reopened railroad trestle to come down into Rosendale and spend some money there.

Rosendale's infrastructure problems included water and sewer systems which were largely left to their own devices for many years. Walsh reported that work to replace the failing water main under Main Street, as well as perform a number of vital improvements to the treatment center, will begin soon thanks to another grant obtained for that purpose.

One piece of infrastructure that Rosendale's board has walked away from is the old town hall, which has been sold. The town now conducts business at the municipal center which was formerly the Rosendale Elementary School, as part of a complex lease-to-own arrangement with the Rondout Valley Central School District. That plan was originally designed to also include Rochester and Marbletown offices, but the former town backed out due to its own internal politics, and the latter has been delayed in participating thanks to politics in the State Senate.

That's one of the biggest challenges facing Marbletown, where a lack of water and sewer systems help keep the town debt-free according to supervisor Michael Warren. He touted the two bridges that were put up to complete that town's stretch of the O&W Rail Trail, which will eventually connect through Rochester into Wawarsing, and spoke about plans to create a connection to the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail so that walkers may go directly to the popular railroad trestle in Rosendale, sometimes referred to as the "Walkway over the Rondout."

Like Rochester, Marbletown is expecting major bridge work in the near future. State DOT workers will be replacing the High Falls span over the Rondout, and it's expected to be a one-lane bridge for many months, and completely closed for some months as well. That could cripple the hamlet's economic activity, so Warren is pushing for the work to begin in late autumn so as to minimize the short-term harm as the long-term needs of the bridge are addressed.